House Education Committee Meeting- January 26, 2022

The House Education Committee met Wednesday, January 26, 2022 and took the following actions on legislation before the committee.

HB 4 (Wyatt) Requires that school principals report to law enforcement certain enumerated acts that may constitute a misdemeanor offense and report to the parents of any minor student who is the specific object of such act that the incident has been reported to law enforcement. Under current law, principals are required to make such reports only for such acts that may constitute a felony offense. The bill reported with a substitute on a vote of 16-5.

HB 127 (Davis) Prohibits any academic year Governor's School or governing board member, director, administrator, or employee thereof from (i) discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin; (ii) engaging in proxy discrimination, as defined in the bill, in student admissions; or (iii) seeking information on students' race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin during the application process for admission to such school unless expressly required by federal law, and to the extent it is required by federal law, the bill requires such information to be withheld to the maximum extent practicable from any individual involved in admissions decisions to the end that admissions decisions are blind as to the applicants' race, sex, color, ethnicity, and national origin. The bill permits any academic year Governor's School or governing board member, director, administrator, or employee thereof to use traditional academic success factors, as defined in the bill, in student admissions and provides that such use presumptively does not constitute proxy discrimination. The bill also contains provisions relating to evidentiary burdens of proof in certain causes of action involving such proxy discrimination or traditional academic success factors. The bill reported 12-9.

HB 236 (Orrock) Permits the Board of Education to grant a two-year extension of the license of any individual licensed by the Board of Education pursuant to its statutory authority whose license expires on June 30, 2022, in order to provide the individual with sufficient additional time to complete the requirements for licensure renewal. The bill reported with amendment on a 21-0 vote.

HB 246 (Kilgore)  Provides that students who miss a partial or full day of school while participating in 4-H educational programs and activities shall not be counted as absent for the purposes of calculating average daily membership and shall receive course credit in the same manner as they would for a school field trip. The bill directs each local school board to develop policies and procedures for students to make up missed work and may determine the maximum number of school days per academic year that a student may spend participating in 4-H educational programs and activities to not be counted absent. The bill reported 21-0.

HB 294 (Freitas) Declares eligible for a scholarship from a scholarship foundation that receives an education improvement scholarship tax credit, on the same basis as any other eligible student, eligible students in need of a safer school environment, defined in the bill as any student who, while enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school in kindergarten through grade 12, was the victim of assault, battery, bullying, harassment, hazing, kidnapping, or robbery on school property, on a school bus, or at a school-sponsored activity, as substantiated by an investigation and written report by the school principal. The bill provides that (i) eligible students in need of a safer school environment are permitted to use such scholarships to cover the expenses associated with attending another public school within or outside of his school division of residence and (ii) there are no family income restrictions on scholarships for eligible students in need of a safer school environment. The bill was passed by for the day.

HB 363 (Freitas) Prohibits school board employees who are not required to hold a valid license issued by the Board of Education and public school teachers from being dismissed based on a last-hired, first-fired dismissal policy or any other similar policy that mandates that, when considering more than one such employee for dismissal, the seniority of each such employee shall be the sole determinative factor in the dismissal decision. The bill also requires the Board of Education, the House Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education and Health, in consultation with local school boards, to study and make recommendations to the General Assembly no later than November 1, 2022, regarding effective, alternative ways in which the performance of teachers may be evaluated for the purpose of awarding or rescinding continuing contract status. The bill was continued to 2022.

HB 433 (Bulova) Requires (i) the reading and mathematics Standards of Learning assessments in grades three through eight and the science assessments administered to students in grade five and after the student receives instruction in the grade six science, life science, and physical science Standards of Learning and before the student completes grade eight to be traditional achievement tests and (ii) the Virginia Studies and Civics and Economics assessments to be performance based and to measure the test taker's ability to apply the skills and knowledge learned in the class. The foregoing provisions of the bill have a delayed effective date of July 1, 2023. The bill also requires the Department of Education, with such funds as may be appropriated for such purpose pursuant to the general appropriation act, to develop a task bank for performance-based assessments that is built using vetted tasks that have been developed by practitioners and align with the Department's Virginia Quality Criteria Review Tool for Performance Assessments.

House Committee on Education, February 5, 2020

HB272 (VanValkenburg) Directs the Department of Education to coordinate with the Department of Environmental Quality to update the "Window into a Green Virginia" curriculum developed by the Departments for sixth grade science to include a unit on the benefits, including the energy benefits, of recycling and reuse.  The bill was reported and referred to Appropriations on a 11-2 vote.

HB332 (Hope) The bill was substantially amended in subcommittee to require each student in kindergarten and grade one to participate in reading diagnostic tests that include all components of a normed rapid automatized naming test.  The bill requires any student who enrolls in a public elementary school in the Commonwealth for the first time in grade two or grade three to participate in the reading diagnostic tests required for students in grade one.  The bill requires each local school division to provide evidence-based, structured literacy instruction, including instruction to students in kindergarten through grade three who fall below the benchmark on any such reading diagnostic test and requires that such structured literacy instruction be overseen and monitored by the local school division's advisor on dyslexia and related disorders, when applicable.  The bill requires the Virginia Department of Education to develop and administer a two year pilot program to administer reading diagnostic tests that include all components of a normed rapid automatized naming test.  The amended bill also includes a reenactment clause so that the requirements of the bill do not go into effect unless and until the General Assembly reenacts it after the two year pilot is completed.  The bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations on a 13-0 vote.

HB694 (Simonds) Requires each student in grades six, seven, and eight, starting in the 2025–2026 school year, to complete at least one semester-long or year-long computer science elective course or introduction to technology course that is aligned with the appropriate Standards of Learning and may include the following content: examining systems and resources of technology, solving problems in technology, introducing microcontrollers, exploring the designed world, computing systems, networks and the Internet, cybersecurity, data and analysis, algorithms and programming, and the impacts of computing. The bill provides that no such student shall be required to complete an end-of-course assessment for any such course. The bill requires the Board of Education to amend or create Standards of Learning as necessary to implement the foregoing provisions and requires the Department of Education to confer with certain organizations to ensure that the proper training is available to the teachers of such courses.  The bill was continued to 2021.

HB1123 (Davis) Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to provide for the substitution of computer coding course credit for any foreign language course credit required to graduate with a standard or advanced diploma for children with disabilities.  The bill was carried over to 2021.

HB1139 (Keam)  The bill was substantially amended in subcommittee to require the Board of Education to consider, in its review of regulations, revisions to the process for screening and identifying students for gifted and talented programs to improved the identification of underrepresented students, including economically disadvantaged students, English language learner students, and students with disabilities.  The amended bill was reported with a vote of 11-2.

HB1143 (Tran) Includes licensed behavior analysts as support services positions in a local school division for the purposes of Title 22.1 (Education).  The bill was amended in subcommittee to also include licensed assistant behavior analysts as support staff.  The amended bill was recommended to be reported and rereferred to Appropriations 8-0.

HB1276 (O’Quinn) Requires each school board to include, as part of each student's academic and career plan in the career and technical education curricula, a list of (i) the top 100 professions in the Commonwealth by median pay and the education, training, and skills required for each such profession and (ii) the top 10 degree programs at institutions of higher education in the Commonwealth by median pay of program graduates. The bill requires the Department of Education to annually compile such lists and provide them to each local school board.  The bill was recommended to be reported 8-0.

HB931 (Coyner) Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended. This bill was incorporated with HB1277 (O'Quinn).

HB1277 (O’Quinn) Reduces the total number and type of required Standards of Learning assessments to the minimum requirements established by the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended.  The bill was carried over to 2021.

HB1388 (Adams) Eliminates the ability of a school that only maintains a passing rate on Virginia assessment program tests or additional tests approved by the Board of Education of 95 percent or above in each of the four core academic areas for two consecutive years to apply for and receive a waiver of accreditation from the Department of Education, which waiver confers full accreditation for a three-year period. Current law provides high-performing schools a separate pathway to obtain three-year accreditation.  The bill was reported on a 12-0 vote.

HB1400 (Willett) Requires the Board of Education, in establishing high school graduation requirements, to permit English as a second language (ESL) courses to satisfy credit requirements for graduation.  The bill was carried over to 2021.

HB1419 (Jones) Requires school resource officers and school security officers to receive training specific to the role and responsibility of a law-enforcement officer working with students in a school environment that includes training on (i) relevant state and federal laws; (ii) school and personal liability issues; (iii) security awareness in the school environment; (iv) mediation and conflict resolution, including de-escalation techniques; (v) disaster and emergency response; (vi) awareness of cultural diversity and implicit bias; (vii) working with students with disabilities, mental health needs, substance abuse disorders, or past traumatic experiences; and (viii) student behavioral dynamics, including current child and adolescent development and brain research.  The bill was reported 11-1.

HB1653 (Wilt) The bill was amended in subcommittee to require the Department of Education to collect data regarding school board’s ability to fill school counselor positions.  The amended bill was reported and rereferred to Appropriations on a 9-3 vote.

HB1680 (Tyler) Requires the Board of Education to review and revise, in consultation with certain stakeholders and no later than December 1, 2020, its Career and Technical Education Work-Based Learning Guide to expand the opportunities available for students to earn credit for graduation through high-quality work-based learning experiences or in the case of agricultural education, supervised agricultural experiences, such as job shadowing, mentorships, internships, and externships.  The bill was reported on a 12-0 vote.

HB1722 (Roem) Requires the Department of Education to develop and publish no later than November 16, 2020, guidance and resources relating to the provision of applied behavior analysis services in public schools for students who are in need of such services.  The bill was reported on a 10-2 vote.